Wonder
by KuroGalaxy14
Summary: When Arashi Hikou continuously gets random challenges from a girl he recently met, things can get confusing. When said girl stops mid-battle to challenge him, things are even more confusing. Arashi wonders what the reason for this strange behavior is. Oneshot, OCxOC, FreeFlightShipping.


**I am back again with a oneshot! Okay, so anyone who has not been following me on DeviantArt will not know about an OC who is majorly involved in this story: Hoshimi Yukari. To sum up, Hoshimi is (Although not yet in this story) Arashi Hikou's girlfriend. The shipping name for the two is "FreeFlightShipping." So, without further ado, I give you the debut of one Hoshimi Yukari on FF. Enjoy!**

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To any outside observers, Hoshimi Yukari was just some annoying girl challenging the same guy over and over again in an attempt to beat him or get his attention.

To Arashi Hikou, she was a mildly annoying distraction from what he was trying to accomplish, but not someone to be harmed by turning down a battle offer, as battles with others were not entirely useless. They could make one stronger for later battles. However, Arashi wasn't entirely sure why he was being randomly challenged even if Hoshimi had already been battling someone else. Challenging him in general because she wanted to beat him made sense. But to stop and suddenly forfeit a battle against someone else just to battle him? That was what did not add up.

Arashi narrowed his one good eye as he watched the peculiar blue-eyed girl. What in the world was she thinking, precisely? Clearly she had some reason for breaking off other battles midway-through to challenge him. It could not be without reason in her mind, but what was the reason? So far, Arashi had noticed no trend. Her challenges seemed random to him, no matter how hard he focused on the enigmatic activity.

"Go, Heracles! Smack it out of the stadium!" The pink, lavender, and mint-haired girl called, sweeping one arm to the side in a way not unlike that of the famous bladers that were seen in tournaments all the time.

"Get her!" Hoshimi's opponent called, punching forwards as his bey attacked the silver and gold synchrom spinning around the outside of the stadium.

"Heracles!" Hoshimi whooped, her bey darting straight for her opponent and slamming into it, sending it flying.

"Get him, Hoshimi! One more hit will finish it!" Isamu called from his position next to and slightly in front of his brother.

However, the final attack from Heracles never came, as Hoshimi suddenly pulled her bey out of the stadium and turned to Arashi, who blinked before mentally groaning.

"Arashi! Battle me again!" Hoshimi demanded.

"And why should I do that?" Arashi asked, adjusting the position of his crossed arms.

"Because a real warrior never backs down from a challenge." Hoshimi replied.

"You didn't finish a battle for about the fifth time this week just to challenge me. Why?" Arashi said.

"No reason." Hoshimi replied, but Arashi was nearly certain that she was lying.

"Go on, bro! Show her that she still can't beat you!" Isamu whooped.

Arashi considered for a split second just glaring at his brother and walking away, but eventually he sighed and stepped up to the stadium as the blader Hoshimi had been battling stepped down, half-pouting that he had not been allowed to finish the battle properly. By the time Arashi had reached his place above the stadium, Hoshimi had her launcher raised and ready to launch.

"Three!" She exclaimed as she saw Arashi reaching for his launcher.

"Two." The bluenette sighed, raising his launcher and hooking his silver and black bey onto it reluctantly.

"One!" Hoshimi exclaimed, a determined gleam in her dark blue eyes.

"Let it rip." Arashi muttered annoyedly as he sharply pulled his arm backwards, coiled muscles leaping into action and sending his bey to do the same.

"Heracles!" Hoshimi whooped, sending her bey around the outside as usual while Arashi's bey immediately moved to the center and spun there steadily.

"Is he gonna pull out another stamina battle?" Isamu sweatdropped.

"Oh, come on! That's boring!" Hoshimi exclaimed. "So we'll spice it up a bit, eh Heracles? Go!"

Arashi narrowed his eyes, watching calmly, calculating the approximate movement he would need to simply dodge Hoshimi's attack. The question was, would he dodge, or would he fight back? Despite being a stamina type, Chimera did have quite the level of speed.

"Arashi look out!" Isamu yelped as Heracles suddenly changed directions and darted straight for Chimera.

"I've got you now!" Hoshimi whooped.

Arashi rolled his eyes slightly and smirked, forced to admit that he was actually enjoying the battle. "Do you now?" He challenged calmly.

"... Yes!" Hoshimi said, but Arashi easily caught her hesitation, not to mention the slight waver in her bey's path.

"Chimera, Horn Toss Uppercut!" Arashi said, as his bey immediately dipped down and charged nimbly up the side of the stadium.

"Dodge it, Heracles!" Hoshimi yelped, once again sweeping her arm out to the side as Heracles changed directions, narrowly evading Chimera's attack.

"Hmm. You can't evade for long." Arashi said, as Chimera bounced against the edge of the Zero-G stadium and ricocheted back towards Heracles. Hoshimi eeped in surprise and sent her bey rocketing away, the heroic Heracles running from the monster that was Chimera.

"Keep it up, Heracles!" Hoshimi exclaimed. "Keep running!"

"Running is not your usual style, Hoshimi. What are you trying to pull?" Arashi asked as Chimera gave chase, its nimble movement turning into more of a back-and-forth slither that rocked the stadium erratically.

"Oh, you'll see!" Hoshimi said, continuing to run, but Chimera was gaining on her, the rocking stadium slowing down Heracles.

"Now, Heracles! Hero's Stance!" Hoshimi exclaimed, as Heracles suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, waiting for Chimera's imminent attack.

Arashi narrowed his eyes and growled. "Chimera! Snake Bite Attack!"

"Go Arashi!" Isamu cheered as Heracles rose and put up its shield, while Chimera's snake head lashed out and embedded its fangs into the shield, biting down as hard as it could.

"Push it back, Heracles!" Hoshimi exclaimed, a fire igniting in her eyes as she grinned.

"Chimera!" Arashi roared, his attention now fully focused on the battle at hand, rather than his surroundings, Hoshimi's previous antics, or anything else.

Both beys flew apart from each other before Chimera resumed its pursuit of Heracles, Arashi widening his stance and beginning to look like a blader, not just another bystander. Chimera began to glow a dark purple color as it moved, still in a back and forth motion reminiscent of a snake. A calculating look appeared on Arashi's face as he watched Heracles's steady movement for any slight irregularity.

"Gonna use your third move on me now? Just going up the line?" Hoshimi called.

Arashi shifted his gaze slightly upwards and met her eyes, a smug smirk crossing his lips for an instant before he returned his attention back to the battle at hand, his one visible eye flashing before he took a step forwards and swept one arm to the side.

"If that's what you want. Chimera!" Arashi exclaimed. "Lion Claw Attack!"

Hoshimi grinned. "That's more like it! Heracles! Hero's Advance!"

As Chimera picked up speed and pounced towards Heracles, the mighty warrior raised its sword and slashed back at the monster. Chimera roared angrily and swiped at Heracles with one large paw, but was blown back by the attack type's retaliation.

Hoshimi smirked. "Gotcha!"

Arashi narrowed his eyes. "Not for long." He said calmly.

"Is that so?" Hoshimi said, grinning. "You're not the only one with another move up your sleeve. I've been practicing."

"Good for you. Except that I have two more moves up my sleeve." Arashi said calmly.

Hoshimi paused, blinking in surprise. "... Two?! How come I didn't know this?!"

"Because Constellation Tornado Strike is reserved for only my strongest opponents and you have not yet reached the level that will force me to use it." Arashi said with a calm but slightly smug expression.

Hoshimi narrowed her eyes. "Then I'm gonna force you to use it." She declared.

"Challenge accepted." Arashi said calmly, widening his stance. "But you have to force me to use the move before it first."

"Oh, I will!" Hoshimi declared confidently. "You do remember, don't you, that a stamina type is weaker against an attack type?"

"That will not make a difference. Chimera may be a stamina type, but its defenses are solid as well." Arashi said.

"Yeah, but it's easy to push around with that stamina-type tip. Heracles has way more grip on the stadium, as that last clash proved."

"Did it now?"

"Yeah. Just you watch!" Hoshimi exclaimed. "I am going to make you use that move."

Arashi simply smirked and sent Chimera back to the center of the stadium to spin steadily. "Try me."

"Heracles!" Hoshimi exclaimed, her eyes gleaming and a happy smile on her face.

Arashi couldn't help but crack a faint smile himself at the overjoyed look on Hoshimi's face. He had to admit that he did care about her more than he really did about anyone else, aside from Isamu. Perhaps that was part of the reason why he kept accepting her battle invites, despite the fact that they did slightly distract him from his original goal of destroying any DNA blader in sight. Arashi suddenly realized that he wasn't so focused on that goal anymore. This caused a slight frown to cross his face. Should be be?

"Arashi, focus!" Isamu yelped, and Arashi snapped out of his train of thought only to see that Chimera had been sent flying. He narrowed his eyes, quickly calculating what he would need to do. With the direction Chimera was headed, there really only was one thing he could do.

"Chimera, Horn Toss Uppercut!" He called.

Hoshimi and the others looked confused at this.

"You're gonna use that move in midair? But there's no way you could possibly hit Heracles from there with it!" Hoshimi exclaimed.

"I'm not aiming for Heracles. Heracles isn't the one I'm trying to throw into the air…" Arashi trailed off as his bey hit the edge of the stadium and, instead of being pulled back down by gravity, launched itself up into the air. "Chimera is!"

"Whaaaaaat?!" Hoshimi shrieked in surprise. "How did you do that?! That was so cool!"

"I simply reversed the effects of my own special move." Arashi sweatdropped. "Chimera does have the agility of a goat. I used those abilities."

"Yeah! As usual, Arashi is cunning!" Isamu whooped, punching the air.

"You asked for it." Arashi said calmly. "So here it is. Chimera! Constellation Tornado Strike!"

"Heracles! Hero's Stance!" Hoshimi yelped, scrambling to put up a defense as Chimera shot back downwards and slammed into Heracles, sending it flying out of the stadium.

"Too late!" Arashi said, sidestepping Heracles as the bey shot past him and embedded itself in the wall just above Isamu's head.

Hoshimi gained a slight look of panic on her face as her opponent turned towards where her bey had landed, his eyes suddenly narrowing and body tensing in surprise as he spotted what she had been attempting to distract him from seeing. An angered growl escaped Arashi as he realized what was really going on, why Hoshimi had been challenging him so randomly. It all made sense now. But why?

Arashi called his bey back to his hand without looking back at the stadium, having already forgotten about Hoshimi's Heracles. He glared at the group of figures who he saw standing in the shadows: DNA bladers. The ones responsible for every last second of his pain over the last couple of years. Whether or not they had been directly involved did not matter to Arashi. He only wanted the complete destruction of the entire organization.

The DNA agents backed down slightly, looking unnerved at the murderous, emerald stare they were getting. Hoshimi and Isamu glanced at each other, biting their lips. They knew they had to get Arashi away from the DNA agents, and quickly. One or the other would be hurt, and neither Isamu nor Hoshimi wanted anything to happen to Arashi. A quick nod of understanding passed between the two before Hoshimi scrambled down from her side of the stadium, dashing around it as fast as she possibly could. Isamu, at the same time, scrambled up the platform his brother was standing on, snatching Arashi's knife right out from under his nose before the older even really noticed that his brother was there.

"Isamu. Give it back." Arashi demanded, his blazing emerald stare turning onto his brother, although he still kept watch on the DNA bladers from the corner of the same eye.

"No." Isamu said, holding the knife behind him and jumping down, away from his brother's reach.

Arashi lowered the platform he was on, still glaring at both his brother and the rather bewildered group of DNA agents.

"We aren't going to let you hurt anyone, Arashi." Hoshimi said firmly as she arrived on Arashi's side of the stadium, crossing her arms sternly and meeting Arashi's emerald gaze without fear. The sapphire-eyed girl knew very well what she was up against, standing up to the boy she had been trying to distract. She knew of his anger, his tendency to be as variably-skilled as the bey he was clenching in his hand.

Already, Hoshimi could see the fury of a lion in the single visible eye of the bluenette. She knew very well that he could likely outsmart both her and Isamu with similar cunning to that of a snake, and she had previously seen how easy it was for the bluenette to simply leap over the head of most anyone, similar to what a mountain goat could do. It was almost as if Arashi, and not his bey, were the Chimera. But Hoshimi hated seeing him this angry, and she was not going to let him hurt himself further by his own anger.

It happened all at once. Arashi, as Hoshimi had expected him to do, sprang into the air, somersaulting over both hers and Isamu's heads. Isamu spun around, keeping himself low to the ground, and slid Arashi's knife to Hoshimi, who calmly set her foot atop it. Arashi, who had lost track of where his weapon had gone, went for his bey, launching it directly at the DNA bladers, who raised their launchers and launched their beys as well. Isamu and Hoshimi raised their launchers, ready to break up the fight, if they even could. However, this turned out to not be needed. As Arashi leapt towards the DNA bladers himself, another bey flew into the battle in a flash, sending all other beys and the DNA bladers flying back. Arashi himself suddenly found that he was caught by the back of his jacket. He growled angrily and struggled, trying to free himself as the DNA bladers yelped in surprise and fled.

Isamu and Hoshimi blinked in surprise, their heads cocked quizzically to the side. They turned and looked up to where Arashi was dangling, his feet kicking rather comically in the air. Hoshimi gasped in surprise at the sight of the man she saw standing on the wall just above them, one hand firmly grasping a launcher while the other hand was clenched tightly around the back of Arashi's jacket, refusing to release the blue-haired blader.

"You should listen to the lady." Gingka said calmly as he watched the DNA bladers flee in fear of him. "She had a good point."

Hoshimi found herself turning red in embarrassment at the complement from the Legendary Blader, who she had always looked up to. Arashi, in the meantime, ceased struggling and simply hung as he lost sight of the DNA bladers. He clenched his teeth tightly, still growling under his breath. Isamu looked away at the pained look that was overtaking the former anger on his brother's face. Gingka knelt slightly, setting the younger blader down before disappearing as if into thin air.

Isamu ran to his brother immediately, throwing his arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"It's okay, brother…" Isamu whispered.

Arashi made no reply, wordlessly hugging his brother back in a protective manner. Hoshimi hesitantly picked up Arashi's knife and shakily handed it to him, saddened at the dulled look on his face. The bluenette merely slid the sharp weapon back into its place on his right thigh before returning to hugging his brother.

"Let's go get some food? I'm hungry." Hoshimi suggested quietly.

Isamu nodded. "That sounds good. Where should we go?"

"We could go to Bull Burger." Hoshimi suggested, glad that at least one of the brothers had taken her suggestion.

"Sounds good to me. I've been wanting a milkshake all morning." Isamu said, trying to be cheerful. "What about you, Arashi?"

"Whatever…" Arashi muttered in a subdued fashion. "Lead the way, Isamu…"

Isamu nodded, eager to please and sooner get the emotionless look off his brother's face. He began to sprint off, Hoshimi grabbing Arashi's arm and gently tugging him after his brother. The group left the Bey Park in silence, leaving the other bladers to wonder what precisely had just happened. It was several minutes before Arashi spoke again, turning his calmed gaze onto Hoshimi as she walked beside him.

"Why did you?" He asked in a low tone.

"Huh?" Hoshimi looked up at him in slight confusion.

"Why would you purposefully challenge me to a battle whenever DNA agents are around? That is what you were doing, was it not?" Arashi asked, a slight scowl on his face.

Hoshimi looked away sheepishly. "Well… I had noticed how you acted whenever they were around, and how angry and upset and hurt you got, and I didn't like seeing you that way, so…" She trailed off.

Arashi stopped walking at this, looking at her in slight surprise. Hoshimi paused as well, noticing that he had, and looked back at him before turning to face him.

"So, you decided that to keep me from getting that way, you would distract me whenever you saw them around." He stated simply.

"Pretty much…" Hoshimi admitted. "Your brother told me what the best way to convince you to accept a challenge if you were reluctant was too. He doesn't like it when you do that either."

Arashi gained a thoughtful frown, his emerald eye seeming to storm over.

"You don't have to be so focused on revenge. The DNA was defeated months ago by Gingka and all of those other really strong bladers." Hoshimi reminded as she and Arashi started walking again, noting that Isamu had paused at the street corner ahead and was waiting for them.

"There are still some of them around." Arashi said. "As you have seen."

"Yeah but they aren't enough to do damage as far as we know. Plus, revenge isn't good." Hoshimi said.

Arashi's eyes flashed at this as he again stopped walking, his face regaining a displeased scowl. Hoshimi stepped in front of him, determined, and grabbed his upper arms with her hands, looking him straight in the eye.

"It's destroying you, Arashi. We keep seeing it and we're trying to stop it." She said firmly, gesturing with her head back towards Isamu, who had again stopped to wait for them. "Neither Isamu or I want you to get lost in revenge. You could get hurt. It hurts him to see you like that, he's told me. That's why we tried to stop it by distracting you from it."

Arashi reached up and grabbed her wrists, forcing her to let go of his arms as he looked away. Hoshimi pulled her wrists out of his grasp and reached up once more, this time placing both of her hands on either side of his face. At the touch of her hand on the left side of his face, Arashi recoiled slightly, not wanting her to find the scars he had hidden away, but she already knew about both the physical and emotional ones.

"I know it's there." Hoshimi said gently. "Isamu told me it was a battle scar, from protecting him."

Arashi opened his mouth to say something before snapping it shut and merely looking away. He still couldn't figure out what this girl was thinking.

"May I…?" Hoshimi asked politely, her eyes catching a hint of a silver flash behind the long blue bangs that she had always seen covering his eye.

Arashi sighed faintly and nodded. Hoshimi gently lifted her hand, pushing Arashi's bangs out of his face and revealing the clouded silver eye beneath. Arashi refused to make eye contact for a while, as Hoshimi stared in wonder at his blind eye.

"You know…" She said softly, "It's sorta beautiful, in a way…"

Arashi looked at her, blinking in surprise. "Beautiful…?"

She nodded. "Like… It's a little unnerving to look at… But it sorta looks like a stormy sky, and I think it's cool. Why do you hide it?"

Arashi sighed and looked away, brushing her hand off his face and allowing his bangs to recover the silver eye. "I do not like the reminder it carries." He replied before turning and beginning to walk off. Hoshimi watched him for a moment, a slight frown on her face before she followed. She walked along beside the bluenette for a moment, watching him out of the corner of her eye. The pink-haired girl began to think about what she had just learned about her friend. She got so deep into thought that it took her a few moments to realize that Arashi was in fact no longer beside her. Panic overtook her for a moment as she whipped around, only to spot the bluenette a few feet behind sitting on the ground grimacing, one hand rubbing the left side of his face.

"Are you alright?" Hoshimi asked worriedly, running over to him.

"Stupid… Poles…" Arashi grumbled.

Hoshimi glanced up slightly and sweatdropped at the dent in the pole that Arashi was sitting next to. "Just how hard did you run into that thing…?"

"Lack of depth perception is a pain in the butt." Arashi grunted as he got back to his feet.

"Come on, I'll help you not run into anything else." Hoshimi said, trying not to laugh.

Isamu smiled as he watched the two, Hoshimi taking Arashi's hand to guide him around further obstacles as they continued on their way towards Bull Burger.

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 **Ahh, feels. It feels good to finally finish this thing, considering that I came up with the idea a few weeks or a month ago and then got stuck. Anyway, until next time, Galaxy out!**


End file.
